Panama's president, Juan Carlos Varela, affirmed today that the "attitude" of the Venezuelan president, Nicolás Maduro, whose second government he does not recognize, reminds him "the last days" of the Panamanian dictator Manuel Antonio Noriega, overthrown by a US invasion in 1989.

"Nicolas Maduro's attitude reminds us Noriega's last days, this time, international pressure must be imposed so that a peaceful, democratic, and Venezuelan solution is achieved, our total support for the interim President @jguaido and the Venezuelan people, "Varela wrote on his Twitter account on Saturday.

Maduro ordered on Thursday the closing of Venezuela's borders that, this Saturday dawned tense due to the protests of citizens that demand the entrance of humanitarian assistance from Colombia and Brazil to be allowed.

Humanitarian assistance was requested by the head of Parliament, the opponent Juan Guaido, who self-proclaimed president of Venezuela last January when he considered Maduro a "usurper" of the executive branch and was recognized by nearly 50 nations, including Panama, Brazil, Colombia, and the United States.

Guaido thanked on Saturday the "support of the international community" after two trucks were burned with humanitarian assistance on the border with Colombia and recalled this is a "crime against humanity."

"We continue to receive the international community's support, which has seen, with its own eyes, how the usurping regime violates the Geneva Protocol, where it is clearly stated that destroying humanitarian assistance is a crime against humanity," said Guaido in his Twitter account.

Two trucks loaded with humanitarian assistance requested by the opposition were burned this Saturday by the Bolivarian National Police on the Venezuelan side of the Francisco de Paula Santander bridge, which connects the country with Colombia, Venezuelan opposition deputy Gaby Arellano denounced earlier.

On the other hand, two trucks with humanitarian assistance that was between the border of Brazil and Venezuela withdrew towards the interior of the Brazilian territory for fear of possible disturbances, but finally, confrontations between Venezuelan authorities and a group of declared anti-Chavez demonstrators were reported.

Around half a hundred protesters began throwing molotov cocktails and stones at a depot of the Venezuelan National Guard Bolivariana (GNB, militarized police), which provoked agents' intervention.

During the time in which the assistance shipment was blocked in that area considered neutral, two ambulances passed from Venezuela to Brazil with at least four dead and several injured inside.

Its step would be, apparently, a consequence of the confrontations that are taking place between the Bolivarian National Guard and the Bolivar's inhabitants state, the border with Brazil, Venezuelan opposition deputies denounced.

In this regard, the Venezuelan Parliament, with an opposition majority, denounced on Saturday that until 4:00 pm local time (20:00 GMT) there were four people killed and more than 20 other bullets wounded on Venezuela with Brazil border.

"What happens on Brazil's border is not common repression (...) What happens in Santa Elena de Uairen is a massacre against the Pemon indigenous people, where we counted four killed and more than 20 bullet wounded people," said in a press conference the deputy Juan Andres Mejía.

Economy

Panama is preparing to enter a new political cycle with important challenges in the fiscal and productive areas, following a government led by Juan Carlos Varela that fell short on key issues such as the economic momentum.

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